Social Media

A Microsoft cybersecurity expert is urging customers to stop using Internet Explorer as a web browser and only default to it as a "compatibility solution."Image: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty ImagesBy Matt Binder2019-02-08 17:12:19 UTC

Believe it or not, there are still people using Internet Explorer — and Microsoft would like them to stop.

Microsoft cybersecurity expert Chris Jackson recently published a post on the official Windows IT Pro blog, titled "The perils of using Internet Explorer as your default browser." Jackson urges users that it’s time to stop using its old web browser, a product Microsoft officially discontinued in 2015.

In his post, Jackson explains how Microsoft customers still ask him Internet Explorer related questions for their business. The fact of the matter is that while most average internet users have moved on to Google Chrome, Firefox, or Microsoft’s Edge, some businesses are still working with older web apps or sites that were designed for Internet Explorer. Instead of updating its tech, many companies have chosen to just keep using the various enterprise compatibility modes of Microsoft’s old web browser.

“Internet Explorer is a compatibility solution,” writes Jackson. “We’re not supporting new web standards for it and, while many sites work fine, developers by and large just aren’t testing for Internet Explorer these days.”

Jackson clarifies that it’s fine to use Internet Explorer where necessary, for example certain enterprise solutions, but even those companies should not be using IE as its default web browser.

The Verge points out that Microsoft helped exacerbate the problem by coupling its current web browser, Edge, with Windows 10, limiting its ability to be used on older versions of Windows. However, to be fair to Jackson, he never pushes for any specific web browser to replace Internet Explorer.

Also, Microsoft will soon solve its Edge issue with its upcoming Chromium-based version of the browser, which will be compatible with Windows 7, Windows 8, and even Mac.

“If we continued our previous approach, you would end up in a scenario where, by optimizing for the things you have, you end up not being able to use new apps as they come out,” Jackson says. “As new apps are coming out with greater frequency, what we want to help you do is avoid having to miss out on a progressively larger portion of the web!”